Parents urged to be cyber safety aware

A leading cyber safety expert says parents need to play a greater role in protecting their children from internet predators.

As a former Victoria Police officer, Susan McLean worked in the area of cyber safety and says children now have a greater level of internet access with the use of tablets and other portable devices.

She has welcomed a new program launched by the Federal Government to help teachers educate children on cyber safety.

Ms McLean says parents should embrace the technology but they need to be aware of cyber bullying and other online dangers.

"But along with that there's a vast number of parents that simply have their head in the sand and are not guiding their children correctly," she said.

"What parents need to make sure is that [they] embrace these devices because this is the way of the future but we need to make sure we know where our children are going, what they are doing there and who they are interacting with.

"Don't be afraid of it but parent, make sure you have rules, make sure you have boundaries, you discuss with your children where the device can go ... [an] iPad doesn't have to go into the bedroom. Who makes that decision? The parent should ... not the child."